//------------------------------// // Insides // Story: Tainted Gifts // by Touch of Darkness //------------------------------// The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that it seemed exceedingly bright for the back of a room with no windows. I tried opening my eyes, but then squeezed them shut again when the light of day pierced them. I tried to get up, but found that I couldn’t. Coming to the reality that I had to open my eyes to see what was wrong, I tensed for the sunlight. I opened my eyes, and hissed in pain. I had barely even began to adjust to the light when a voice spoke up from somewhere in front of me. “Ah, I see you’re awake.”, said a voice. It was female, and had a distinct Southern like drawl to it. My eyes finished adjusting to the light, and I looked at my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was the mare who had spoken those words. Freckles, light orange skin, whitish blonde hair tied back and held in place with some red bands. She had green eyes that lay in shadow from the stetson placed casually on her head. She was leaning on a stack of hay, staring at me quite angrily. I coughed nervously and looked down, at which point I find out why I couldn’t get up. A very well tied rope had been wrapped around my legs, prohibiting them from moving. With a sigh, I faced my “demons” and looked back up at the mare, who was still glaring at me. “Well, are you going to say something, or just sit there and look dumb?” “Don’t talk to me like I am a little child.” “You are.” “By definition I am not, and even if I was, it wouldn’t give you the right to treat me like one, especially in such a rude manner.” The mare opened her mouth, and then promptly shut it. She looked away for a second, and sighed softly, before looking back at me. “I’m sorry that you broke into my house and slept in it. Not like that’s a bad thing.” “First off, this is a storage room for hay, so you shouldn’t really care. Second, I’m sorry.” “Don’t be smart with me. It is still my property, and this is an invasion of my privacy in the end.” “Could you at least say apology accepted?” “Why would I forgive you for breaking into my-” “Yeah yeah, I get it, I broke onto your property. I said I’m sorry.” The mare got flustered, and I knew I had already won this battle. “You don’t have reason though.” “Did you think to ask if I did?” “Well...no…” “Well then how do you know I don’t have reason?” “Because...you didn’t say anything…in your defense...” “Why should I have said anything? I don’t need to answer a question that wasn’t asked. Besides, I just woke up, tied up so I couldn’t move. What makes you think I would even want to to talk to you in the first place.” The mare shifted uncomfortably, and looked away from me. “Why did you break into my house?” She asked, defeated. I smiled in victory. “Before I say anything, can you free me these damn things?” “How do I know you won’t just run?” “You don’t. However, I won’t, because...well look at you. You’re pretty strong for a mare. I can see the muscle under your skin from here. You could probably wrestle me down, no problem.” The mare seemed shocked at the sudden statement. She blinked absently, and then walked over to me, and untied the ropes holding me. I got up, and brushed the hay and dust off me. Standing, I found that the mare was actually a little smaller than I was, and I was already kind of small to begin with. I let out a little huff of relief, and told her everything about what had happened. I thought that was better than lying, because that would only lead to my demise anyway. If she sympathized with me, then I was safe for the time being. If I lied, and ran, they would find her eventually, and she would tell them everything. In the case of being captured, I had my last resort handy. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, however, as I finished telling her the events leading up to my night in the storage room. The mare looked to the side and scowled, and then looked into my eyes. “If I trust you, am I safe?” I shook my head. “Not at all, but it’s not me you’ll have to worry about. You could just tie me down again, and then get the police, or whatever the hell you call them, to take me away. Then you wouldn’t have to worry.” Another scowl as she thought about this. She stared at the ground for an uncomfortable couple of minutes before she looked up, and smiled at me. “You look hungry. Would you like some breakfast?” This caught me off guard, and I looked at her with wide eyes, astonished. “Woah, hold up. You were hating me just a couple seconds ago for breaking into your house and now you are offering me breakfast? I’m sorry, but that’s not how logic works.” “I trust you, and you look hungry. Is there anything wrong with that?” It was my turn to scowl. “Yes!” The mare slapped herself, furthering my confusion. “Nope. Didn’t do anything to bring me back to my senses. Now is it a yes or a no?” I gaped at her, and then shook my head in disbelief. “You’re insane.” “Maybe.” I rubbed my eyes, and then shrugged. “Sure, I guess. I could use a bite to eat.” The mare turned and walked out, beckoning me to follow her. “I’m not insane, so to speak, more just bored of being stuck in a predictable cycle. If you bring danger with you, then let me take it on. I have needed an adrenaline rush for a long time now.” “So, what happens when the danger does arrive at your doorstep? What happens when the goons chasing me threaten you in order to get to me, even if I am long gone? They’ll come looking for me. They are not against hurting a woman, no less a mare. They’ll probably even kill you after they get what they want. You’ll just be evidence.” “What little boy? I don’t know of any little boy. Sorry to waste your time.” The mare looked back at me with a playful smile, and I sighed. “Would it have been better if I had tried to run?”, I asked. “More than likely.” We had reached the door to the house, and she went inside. I stood outside, and looked to the sky. I could’ve run right then, but I wasn’t going to let the mare down on her generous offer. “You know what, screw logic.” I stepped up to the door, and pushed it open, but paused before I went in. “Well...here goes nothing...” I sucked in a big breath, and let it out to calm myself, and then stepped inside. I sat uneasily at the table, tapping my feet on the ground. The mare was in the kitchen, making something that smelled strongly of cinnamon. I folded my hands in front of me, and closed my eyes. I slipped into the recesses of my mind, and heard the faint sound of music. I heard a deep hum, paired with indistinguishable voices and a light piano. It began to calm me, and I opened my eyes again, letting the music distort my reality to a much safer one. Then, a voice broke through the music and shattered my state of my mind. “Applejack, what are you making? It smells delicious!”, exclaimed the cheery voice. My eyes darted to the source, and a young mare, maybe a couple years older than I was, entered through the door from which I heard her. I took quick note that it seemed she had entered through the front door, and stored that information away for later. Then, I focused on the young mare herself. She was very light yellow in color, with a rosy pink mane that bounced as she skipped into the room. She had large, orange eyes that sparkled with life and energy. She...was staring at me, her eyes as wide as grapefruits. I flinched away, and found the wood on the ground to be very interesting. I still felt her eyes on me, and felt a little nausea rise in my stomach. I hated being studied. “I would prefer if you stopped staring at me like that. It’s making me uncomfortable, and plus, it’s rude to stare.” The young mare let out a little squeak. “Applejack...why is there a hume in our house?” I scowled at the use of the term hume. It was a derogatory term against humans. Why or how it was derogatory, I didn’t know. It just was. “Applebloom, what did I tell you about using that word?” “But Applejack-” “I don’t care if you meet the biggest ass of a human. Don’t use that word.” “Fine, but I still want to know why there is one in our house.” I looked up at Applejack, and raised an eyebrow. She looked at me, and then back at Applebloom. “He needed something to eat. He has bad parents, and they abuse him, or at least that’s what he said. I hope he isn’t lying.” “You don’t have to refer to me like I am not here…”, I muttered. Applejack shot me a dirty look, before looking back at the young mare. She was about to say something, but I cut her off by turning to Applebloom and stretching out my hand. “I’m sorry about all this confusion. I just needed a place to get away. I found here by chance, and Applejack here was nice enough to take me in.” I smiled, and though it was faker than fake, it caused Applebloom to crack a small smile also. “My name’s Cerus. Nice to meet you.” Applebloom slowly reached out with one of her hooves. I grabbed it softly and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Cerus.” She looked at the ground, and I saw shame in her eyes. “S-Sorry I called you...that word...I didn’t realize...you know…” “Don’t worry about it. To be fair, all humans are assholes, and if you were under my jurisdiction, you could call everyone of us humes if that’s what you wanted.” This was a lie, but I thought it might be better to appease her than berate her. I let go of her hoof, and she brought it back as slowly as she had extended it, as if she were pondering something. Then she looked at Applejack. “I don’t believe you answered my first question big sis.” Applejack looked at Applebloom. “And what would that have been?” “What are you making? It smells delicious.” “I don’t quite know actually. I was kind of messing with different things to see what would happen.” Applebloom took a seat at the table. “I agree with Applebloom. It smells fantastic. I’m sure it will taste just a good as it smells.” Applejack smiled at us, and brought a steaming plate of pastries to the table. Both Applebloom and I grabbed one, and bit into them. I closed my eyes again, and let the flavor of the pastry occupy my mind. A burst of tangy orange mixed with cinnamon and apple to create a sweet and sour medley that pleased the tastebuds. I heard a sound while lost in the rapture of the taste of the pastry, but it was distant and muffled. I heard voices conversing quietly in a room a million miles away, but chose not to focus on them. I was in a state of bliss, and nothing was going to take that away from me. I opened my eyes a little bit, and then saw a dark figure out of the corner of my eye, and I knew that I had been taken for a fool. I kicked my legs against the ground, shooting me back. I quickly reached into my pocket, and pulled out one of my firecracker poppers, and threw it at the cop. It hit him square in the head and popped, surprising him and making him stumble back a little. I then got up and snatched Applebloom out of the chair she was sitting on, and brought her close. My balisong was at her neck within the next millisecond. “Nobody move!”, I shouted. Applejack stood in the doorway, dumbfounded. The cop, a young man with chiseled features, froze where he stood. His eyes went from mine to my balisong, and then back and forth again. “I am going to leave, and you are going to let me. Otherwise...” I started pushing the knife into Applebloom’s neck, and she let out a small whimper. I felt a wave of adrenal excitement go through my body when I realized I had pierced into Applebloom's skin, and she was beginning to bleed. For no sane reason, I pushed in the knife a little farther. “Don’t you dare hurt my sister!”, Applejack cried helplessly. I looked at her, and she gulped. “This should be you. I put my trust in you, because I thought you were safe. I guess I was wrong. You sent for the cop before I woke up, didn’t you?” Applejack nodded. “I knew something was up. You seemed too calm, too willing to open up to me. I should have ran. I knew it from the start.” I began to back up, towards a door leading outside in the kitchen, dragging Applebloom with me as I went. I reached the door, turned the knob, and kicked it open. I then proceeded to glare at Applejack. “Lying bitch.” I threw Applebloom to the ground, and then ran out the door. I ran down the trail that led away from the farm, and towards the town. I hated going into public, but if I had any chance of eluding the law, it would be by blending into the crowd. I finally reached the town, tired and sweating profusely from wearing my jacket on such a warm day, but I kept moving. I saw a town square of sorts, jam-packed with civilians, and began to rush to it. However, a couple cops, a pony and a woman, strolled out of a building, and with my bad luck, looked in my direction. Seemingly knowing instantly who I was, they drew their guns. I turned, and rocketed to the left, down an alleyway. I came upon a turn inside the alleyway, and found the alleyway to be a dead end after turning the corner. I turned around, and made an attempt to sprint out of the alleyway before the cops reached it, but I was too late. They sprinted into it, and I skidded to a stop, and reeled back. I almost tripped, and the adrenaline that surged into me as I felt myself stumble triggered the release of my secret hormone. I felt it build in my body, generating a tension too great to hold. “Stop!”, the pony cop yelled. I felt my consciousness become saturated with a thickness that overwhelmed me. I stopped, and let my hands fall to my side. They began to clench and unclench, as if squeezing a stress ball. “Make this easy on us kid. Just come with us. Nothing bad will have to happen to you.”, said the woman cop. My morals and ethics became muddled, my thought processes were lost in a haze. I was over the event horizon. I couldn’t control what happened at that point. It was up to my hormone. “I think you should just let me go.”, I said with an unnatural cockiness. I flipped my hood back with a toss of my head, letting my shoulder length black hair fall freely. “You are wanted for threat of murder, and for assault of an officer of the law. You aren’t getting away with anything, kid.”, the pony replied. I looked into the cops eyes out of the corner of my eyes, and smiled. “Last chance.” My hands clenching and unclenching faster and faster, my heart pumping harder, my mind working quicker. Everything fit together in perfect clarity, like a puzzle, but at the same time was lost in a purple haze. “Is that a threat?”, the pony cop asked incredulously. “Do those guns have silencers?”, I asked, seeing the tubular extensions on both drawn weapons. The cops looked at each other, and then looked at me. They both approached me. My hands unclenched and splayed open, palms facing the ground. The two cops stumbled, and then stood straight, staring into nothing. “You are worthless. You are trash, controlled by a heartless, corrupt government. It pains me to see you give yourselves so freely to it. I don’t believe you two deserve to live anymore. Do you agree?” The cops pointed their guns at their heads, and cocked them. I walked passed them, and out of the alleyway. I turned back to look at them, still staring ahead, guns pointed at their heads. “Au revoir.” The guns fired in perfect sync. The red spray that followed also flew out in perfect sync. Both cops dropped to the floor, dead. There was no need to check if they were dead, for a good chunk of their heads were missing (probably due to hollow point bullets), with brain matter splattered hectically on the walls and the ground. There was no need to run, for there had been no sound, because the guns did indeed have silencers. I flipped my hood back up, and walked into the square, melting into the crowd. It didn’t take long for my hormone to wear off, for I had no use for it after using it on the cops. I knew what was coming, the aftereffects of using my hormone, but it still hit me hard nonetheless. I began to feel dizzy, and unconsciously walked out of the crowd. I felt my legs lock, and I dropped to the ground. My muscles began to spasm in a Grand Mal seizure, and my already suffering body managed to also throw up multiple times as it flailed on the ground. I heard the sound of muffled shouting, but it was indistinct. Everything started fading to black, and the last thing I saw before I blacked out was shoes and hooves alike running towards me.